The Stars official stance on Jamie Benn is that he will be “re-assessed” on Sunday after a hard hit by Phoenix’s Martin Hanzal in the final two minutes of Dallas’ 2-1 loss to the Coyotes Saturday. They are not listing any injury at this time.
While the Stars won’t say it, they definitely are concerned about a potential concussion for Benn.
He suffered one back in junior hockey with Kelowna in the WHL Finals in 2009 that kept him out for a week or so. He then had one in October of 2010 with the Stars that made him miss three games. So he has a history. He was hit on the blindside by Hanzal after he unleashed a shot on goal.
Here is the video of the hit and some additional work from Puck Daddy and NHL Tonight.
Now, if we are to believe the talk of Brendan Shanahan and the Player Safety Department, this is exactly the kind of hit that the league was trying to eliminate three years ago. Here is the rule changes that were implemented before the 2010-11 season.